Precious Things
by Jediempress
Summary: Cloud Strife and his two most prized possessions. CloudRiku one-shot fluff.


I had an overwhelming desire to write fluffy Clouku. Too much angst lately. Blame General Hospital for a lot of this. I can't watch Jason without hearing Cloud and it gives me the most wonderful little thoughts. (It is a soap opera, after all.)

Reviews, please?

Ah, if I actually owned these guys….

Precious Things

Riku watched Cloud from the garage door, leaning casually against the frame with his arms crossed before him. The older man had mentioned his motorcycle a few times, always with great affection and sadness. The way he talked about Fenrir, Riku was convinced that Cloud missed the bike more than he did The Planet.

Maybe even more than his friends.

Cloud had been absolutely floored that his precious bike had somehow ended up in Traverse Town. When Reeve and Vincent had shown up with it, saying that they had found it in one of the outlying districts among various piles of things that had for whatever reason been collected in different collections from different worlds, Cloud cried. He totally denied it, of course, but they had all seen the tears.

Fenrir had definitely seen better days. The paint was scraped off and there were several dents and cracks in the casing. One of the front wheels was ripped to shreds and a few of the exterior pieces of machinery were missing completely.

For a full week now, Cloud had spent every day at the garage rebuilding his baby. Cid had been helping him with it, highly amused by the blond's anxiety to save his motorcycle. The middle-aged man had taken to teasing Cloud almost constantly about it, knowing that Cloud could not stop him. He needed Cid's assistance too badly.

It had troubled Riku a little that Cloud had become so fixated on an object that he could not even use. The only portable power source on Hollow Bastion was gummis and Fenrir was not able to run on those.

At least, not yet.

"She looks good." Riku noted, dropping his arms and walking forward.

"She's getting there." Cloud muttered, finishing up attaching one of the side compartment coverings. "A few more of the panels need to be smoothed out and then a full paint job. Then she'll be beautiful again."

"You treat her like she's a person."

Cloud checked to make sure the piece he just attached was secure and stood. He tossed the screwdriver over with the rest of Cid's tools and brushed his hands together. "I _do_ realize Fenrir is a machine but this bike has never let me down."

He traced a few fingers along the rear panel, a soft smile on his face. "She represents freedom. I'd get her out on the open road and just go. It was only me and her and everything else got left behind."

Riku understood that.

"No blindfold today?"

"I had it on earlier." The teen shrugged. "I'm getting pretty good moving around and recognizing everyone with it on. Yuffie was freaked that I was able to sense her this afternoon when she was on the roof of headquarters, laying in wait for Cid. Aerith has been helping me with developing my sensory skills."

Cloud looked over, his smile fading. He left Fenrir and approached Riku. He wrapped his arms around the sixteen-year-old, pulling him close. "I'm sorry I've been neglecting you."

"It's alright." Riku pressed his face against the older man's chest, breathing in Cloud's scent. "I understand how important your baby is to you."

Cloud moved him back a little and met Riku's eyes. "You're important to me."

Grinning, Riku stretched up to kiss Cloud lightly. "I know."

Cloud chuckled, brushing at silver hair. "With how fast you're growing, you're going to end up taller than me."

Something flickered across Riku's aqua eyes. "It's likely."

"That'll give Leon something else to tease me with." Cloud sighed but did not seem truly upset about it. He released the teen and began gathering up tools. "What have you been doing while I've been obsessing on my bike?"

"Spending a lot of time with Leon." Riku answered. He noticed Cloud's slight stiffening of shoulders and almost laughed. "You know, he and I are an awful lot alike. And we seem to have this unspoken understanding of one another. Time just seems to fly when I'm with him."

"Does it?" Cloud's voice was tight and he rather roughly started putting tools away.

The teen grinned in amusement. It was cute seeing Cloud get all jealous. "Yeah, I hardly know you're gone when I'm with him."

Cloud made a noise in the back of his throat and Riku did laugh. When the blond turned toward him, Riku shook his head. "You do know I love you."

With a sigh, Cloud returned to him. He draped his arms over his young lover's shoulders and pressed his forehead to the top of the boy's head. "I love you, more than anything."

"Even Fenrir?"

Cloud snorted. "Yes, but it's a near thing."

"Hey!" Riku slapped Cloud's shoulder. "If that's the case, I'm not going to give you my present."

Cloud drew his head back. Despite his frown, there was an eager brightness to his eyes. "Present?"

"Yeah." Riku removed a few folded sheets of paper from his pocket. He handed them to Cloud. As the man unfolded them, Riku explained. "Leon and I figured out a way to convert Fenrir to run on gummi cells."

Cloud stared at the paper a moment before flicking his blue eyes back at Riku. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. All you and Cid have to do is make a few adjustments and replace three components to the fuel intake." The silvered one shrugged. "Then she'll be set to ride."

Cloud carefully re-folded the papers and walked over to Fenrir. He opened one of the compartments and placed the instructions inside. Closing it back up, he returned to Riku and tugged his boyfriend to him yet again.

He gave him an intent look before pulling Riku into a long, thorough kiss. Cloud brought his hands around to run up Riku's back underneath his shirt. Riku's hand found their way to Cloud's waist, fingers dipping beneath the fabric there.

Cloud broke off the kiss to trace his lips along Riku's cheek and back to his ear. After nibbling on it for a few moments and Riku gave a soft moan, he whispered. "Come on, I want to show you my appreciation."

Riku bit his lip, groaning at Cloud's last lick to his earlobe before the man took his hand and led him to the back of the garage where Cid had a small sleeping area set up.

It was a very good thing he had told Cid not to come back to the garage tonight.


End file.
